D.C. Andrews & Co. v. United States

55 Cust. Ct. 369, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2242
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 22, 1965
DocketC.D. 2603
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 55 Cust. Ct. 369 (D.C. Andrews & Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.C. Andrews & Co. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 369, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2242 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

Imported from England were certain Carter hydraulic infinitely variable speed gears covered by the above-enumerated protest, which the collector of customs classified as mechanisms, devices, or instruments, intended or suitable for regulating, indicating, or controlling the speed of arbors, drums, disks, or similar uses, in paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the trade agreement with Switzerland, 90 Treas. Dec. 174, T.D. 53832, and im[370]*370posed duty thereon at the compound rate of $2.25 each and 35 per centum ad valorem.

It is plaintiff’s contention that the devices in controversy should properly have been classified as machines, not specially provided for, within the purview of paragraph 372 of said tariff act, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, and subjected to duty at the rate of 11% per centum ad valorem.

The pertinent texts of the applicable statutes are as follows.

Paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Swiss Trade Agreement, supra—

Clockwise mechanisms, and any mechanism, device, or instrument intended or suitable for measuring distance, speed, or fares, or the flowage of water, gas, or electricity, or similar uses, or for regulating, indicating, or controlling the speed of arbors, drums, disks, or similar uses, or for recording time, or for recording, indicating, or performing any operation or function at a predetermined time or times, * * *; all the foregoing, whether or not in cases, containers, or housings:
Mechanisms, devices, or instruments intended or suitable for measuring •the flowage of electricity * * *
Time switches * * *
Other (except mechanisms, devices, or instruments intended or suitable for measuring the flowage of electricity, and except time switches), * * *:
* * * * * * *
Over $10_$2.25 each and 35% ad val.
* * * * * si* *

Paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the sixth protocol, supra—

Machines, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for:
Adding machines * * *
*******
Other * * *___11%% ad val.

Received in evidence was plaintiff’s exhibit 1, a pamphlet containing an illustration of the speed gears in issue. The only witness called to testify was Theodore Staron, a gear engineer, and manager of the American division of the importer. He is in charge of selling the gears, and also of seeing to their proper application in any particular installation.

The testimony indicates that the working part of the gear is completely housed. The housing acts as an oil reservoir for the gear system as well as a container for the complete unit. From the exterior of the housing, both the input and output shafts are visible. The input shaft is always connected to some outside source of power, possibly [371]*371an electric motor. The gears are never used by themselves, that is, they are never used without some external primary mover.

Between the input shaft and the output shaft, the housing contains the working part of the gear. The output shaft is usually connected to some industrial machine, such as a conveyer. The function of the gear system is to vary the speed ratio between the outside source of power and the industrial machine.

The gear contains a makeup pump which draws oil by suction from the reservoir and delivers it to another unit of the gear, namely, the input pump. One revolution of the input shaft corresponds to one stroke of the makeup pump. The actual change in speed ratio is effected within the input pump, since it is the functioning of this component which varies the flow of oil. The input pump contains radially positioned pistons which are forced outward by the oil pressure. The pistons are forced against a thrust reaction ring, which surrounds the radial arrangement of pistons. The eccentricity of the reaction ring in relation to the geometric center of the radial arrangement of pistons is varied. The manually operated handwheel, located on the outside of the gear housing, controls a screw thread which produces lateral movement of the thrust reaction ring, and consequently varies its eccentricity. The length of the piston stroke is thereby altered, since the eccentricity of the thrust reaction ring will determine the allowable distance to be traveled by the displaced piston. The displaced piston strikes the reaction ring. As a result, the entire input pump rotates on ball bearings within the housing.

The length of the piston stroke determines the amount of oil that will be delivered to the output motor unit, another part of the gear. The output motor unit is similar to the input pump in design and operation. The output motor unit receives the flow of oil from the input pump and converts it to rotary motion which is then transmitted by means of the output shaft to an industrial machine. The entire motor unit also rotates on ball bearings within the gear housing.

The Carter gear, as imported, gives no indication of the rate of speed of the industrial machine attached to the output shaft. Once connected to the outside source of power and the industrial machine, the Carter gear contains everything necessary to effect a change in speed ratio between the input and output shafts. The Carter gear also contains everything necessary to vary the speed ratio between the prime mover and industrial machinery, with the exception of couplings of some sort, to j oin the gear shafts to the power source and machinery. Arbors, drums, and disks frequently are components of the industrial machinery attached to the Carter gear.

Having described the operation and use of the merchandise, as disclosed by the testimonial record, we now turn to a discussion of the relevant statutory provisions and case law.

[372]*372Parties in their briefs make reference to the cases of United States v. Bacharach Industrial Instrument Co., 13 Ct. Cust. Appls. 262, T.D. 41203, National Biscuit Co. v. United States, 34 Cust. Ct. 23, C.D. 1671, Buhler Bros., Inc., and Gehrig Hoban & Co., Inc. v. United States, 42 Cust. Ct. 239, C.D. 2093, and Paillard Products, Inc. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 95, C.D. 2365.

The Bacharach case, supra, proves to be of particular importance in a determination of the present controversy. The merchandise there before the court consisted of eight indicators for use in determining the pressure in steam and gas engines and electrically driven air compressors. The devices had been classified by the collector of customs as measuring devices or mechanisms in paragraph 368 of the Tariff Act of 1922 (the predecessor paragraph to that invoked by the collector of customs in the instant case) and were claimed to be articles or wares, not specially provided for, within the basket provision of the metal schedule, paragraph 399 of the Tariff Act of 1922. In the course of its decision, which affirmed the trial court in sustaining the plaintiff’s claim, the appellate court stated—

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Related

D. C. Andrews & Co. v. United States
57 Cust. Ct. 838 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)

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Bluebook (online)
55 Cust. Ct. 369, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dc-andrews-co-v-united-states-cusc-1965.